1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relate to a method to control a management system to control semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
A claim of priority is made to Korean Patent Application 2003-88480, filed on Dec. 8, 2003, the contents of which are incorporated by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
The semiconductor technology field has remarkably grown in recent years by the rapid development in the information technology area and the popularization of information media such as the computer. Semiconductor devices require faster speed operations and larger storage capabilities. Continue research and development in the manufacturing of semiconductor devices having higher integration, reliability, response speed, and better automation, is required.
Semiconductor device manufacturing techniques generally include a deposition process to form a process layer on a semiconductor substrate, and a photolithography process to form and pattern a photoresist layer on the process layer.
Typically the photolithography process is divided into a photo process, an etching process, and a cleaning process. In the photo process, a photoresist layer is formed on a semiconductor substrate, and then a photoresist layer is patterned. In the etching process, the process layer exposed by the patterned photoresist layer is selectively removed. In the cleaning process, the photoresist layer and by-products generated from the etching process are removed by a cleaning solution, so as to leave only the non-etched portion of the process layer. The etching process may be performed by a wet etch or dry etch. Recent etching processes for the use in micro patterns, requiring submicron design rules, are mainly performed by the dry etch process.
In the dry etching apparatus, a high voltage Radio Frequency (RF) signal is applied to an etch reaction gas and inactive gas within a process chamber to create a plasma state. The plasma reaction gas removes the process layer exposed by the photoresist layer. Herewith, polymer components, which are etching by-products and which contaminate the process chamber, must be removed from the process chamber. Preventive maintenance procedure on the process chamber such as cleaning process should be periodically performed. For example, if the RF time is assumed to be roughly the total use time of the chamber after it has been cleaned, then maintenance procedure should be performed on the process chamber, for example, after every about 100 RF use hours. The etching rates of the etching apparatus may be affected by the RF time.
When etching an insulation layer to form a contact hole between a plurality of stack gates, a cassette having 25 wafers is loaded in a port, and then the wafers are sequentially etched. Afterwards, the cassette is unloaded and cleaned, and then the wafers are transferred to the next position for further process.
The management system is composed of a plurality of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, an equipment server connected on-line to each semiconductor manufacturing equipment to directly control the semiconductor manufacturing equipments, a host computer that is connected on-line to the equipment server stores a database of data necessary for controlling the semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and an operator interface that is connected on-line to the host computer to allow an operator to check the progress of the manufacturing process and related operational data. When a lot i.e., (batch) of wafers is loaded into a semiconductor manufacturing equipment, the operator inputs through the operator interface, process data, e.g., equipment lot identification and equipment identification numbers.
When the data is inputted to the host computer, the host computer downloads the process condition recipe to the semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
After a predetermined time, certain components of the semiconductor manufacturing equipment are exchanged and cleaned to conduct preventive maintenance. In addition, some of the variables in the host computer's process recipe data are updated or replaced. The update or replacement of the data may also take place when different semiconductor device products are manufactured.
Thus, the control system of the prior art only calculates and displays use accumulation time and the RF time after the preventive maintenance. Therefore, the prior art has the following problems.
A host computer cannot control the etching apparatus according to the RF time of etching apparatus.
Furthermore, productivity may decrease because recipe (production data) based on the RF time may vary depending on the operator (operator specific).